IF YOU HAD TO DESIGN A TIN, the sort of pretty cookie holder that holds a few dozen snickerdoodles or peppermint twists, and you were tasked with placing a perfect California town on its shiny lid, how would you choose? Your mind might first wander to Currier & Ives, and the other holiday-focused artists of long ago. You might ponder how they chose the cozy and nostalgic scenes they painted, those artistic moments that are now part of popular culture. Certainly your task would be to first find a festive hamlet that possessed some quaintness, plenty of beauty, and the sort of character that feels as though it has been intact for many years. If that community had historic buildings, and a lovely natural setting, and perhaps a number of wine tasting rooms, so much the better. Yes, we're honing in on...
LOS OLIVOS... here, which doesn't look as though it sprung straight off an old-fashioned cookie tin lid, but does seem as though it might be a solid candidate for a modern cookie tin painting spotlighting an extra-sweet Golden State village. You can visit the Santa Ynez Valley destination throughout the holidays, but you might want to make a special stop on Saturday, Dec. 7, when "An Olde Fashioned Christmas" delivers the fas and las to the lovely place. Several shops and eateries will be in the swing, and both a Christmas train and holiday petting zoo will lend the celebration extra cheer. And at St. Mark's In-The-Valley Episcopal Church? Look for gingerbread houses to "... transform the Hall into a winter wonderland.
FIND MORE INFORMATION... on one of the most charming villages in all of wine country, and that's any wine country, and its annual yuletide to-do, now.
